Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,365 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 1,334 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 14,388 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,340,000 after buying an additional 2,784 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,457 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,327,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 8,762 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Alhambra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $302,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $192.05 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.78 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $173.10 and its 200-day moving average is $191.30. The stock has a market cap of $156.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.95.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.